It has a lot of advantages, and we will get into those, but let’s understand what automated support ticket routing is.

Benefits of auto-ticket routing

If you can route the support tickets automatically, you can enjoy some extremely valuable benefits. To begin with,

Faster resolution time: If the software assigns the incoming ticket to an agent automatically, it will ensure a fast resolution time for that ticket.

Improve customer satisfaction: The ticket management system detects the best suitable agent for that customer issue. It does it as per the predefined conditions. That way, customers get the best support for their issues.

Reduce the manager’s work: Imagine that your team has to solve hundreds of tickets every day. It will be a hectic job for the team lead or manager to manually assign each ticket to each agent. But automation eliminates this workload.

Increase agent productivity: This automated feature does not assign tickets to agents randomly. It assigns a particular ticket to a particular agent who is an expert on it. So, the response of the agent is always the best.
Reduce human error: Manually routing a ticket can be mistakenly assigned or may overlap with agents. But auto-ticket routing by default prevents this basic human error.

How to set automated ticket routing in Fluent Support?

If you are running a business website on WordPress, then you are going to love this WordPress helpdesk plugin. Fluent Support is one of the best and most feature-rich ticket management systems.

You can very easily set this up with your business account on your WordPress website. The below step-by-step instructions will help you get it done quickly.

Fluent Support has handy workflow automation options. You can set various conditions to design a workflow. These workflows can either be run manually or triggered automatically.

Now let’s say you have various software products. For each product, you have an expert on your support team. In the first scenario, you just want to assign an agent whenever a customer creates a ticket.

Auto-assign agents

To set the automation, go to the dashboard of Fluent Support. Here, you will find an option called “Workflows.” You will see the list of workflows here. Now, we will click on the “Add New Workflow” button.

It will ask you if you want to run this workflow automatically or manually. We will go with automatic in this case. In the next step, we will set the workflow actions. From the drop-down menu, you will find multiple options. Select the ‘Assign Agent’ from those.

It will require the agent that you want to assign it to. Select that from the below drop-down menu. Here we have created support staff from the global settings. Let’s give this action a name.

Finally, you have to set when this action will trigger. So, from ‘Set Your Triggers and Conditions’, select the ‘On the Ticket Creation’ trigger. Hit update workflow, and you are all set.

Now, if any customer creates a ticket, Fluent Support will automatically assign that ticket to the pre-selected agent.

Agent assigned as per product

In the second scenario, let’s say you want to assign an agent automatically to agents for a specific product. In addition, you want tickets about ‘feature requests’ to go to a specific agent.

To do this granular automation, you have to create a workflow. We are going to repeat steps to create the workflow action from your previous scenario.

After that, we will set a specific conditional trigger. In the ‘Condition’, you will find a lot of options from the dropdown. Here we want to target the word ‘feature request’. So, after a ticket is created, the system will look for these words in the title and in the message body.

If the system finds such words, it will pass on to the ‘AND’ condition, where it will look for the product that feature request came for. If the products match, the system will trigger the action and assign the agent that you have chosen for the task.

Auto close

Now let’s say you have a recurring ticket for your product. Engaging an agent every time for the same issue is not a smart use of resources. You can set the conditions and actions to find out the recurring tickets, auto-response, and close the ticket immediately.

Auto delete

In this final scenario, you might not assign the ticket to any agent. In fact, you want to delete that ticket immediately. Because from time to time, you will get spam tickets. With Fluent Support, you can do that too.

Just set the system to look for spammy words in the title or in the message body. It will delete those tickets automatically.

All you have to do is set it up once and forget about it.

Wrapping up

At the end, we have to say that old saying. Time is money. And to make your customer happy, a fast response is a must. Ticket routing automation basically gives your support team the superpower to be fast.

In addition, with automated ticket routing, you are not just ensuring a fast response, but in the process, you will create loyal customers.

The post Automated Ticket Routing: For Better And Faster Customer Support appeared first on Fluent Support.

What is a support ticket?

A support ticket is anything that stores customer queries and complaints as a single conversation inside a management system. Support tickets are opened when a customer submits information and are closed when the outlined customer issue is resolved to completion.

Support tickets are meant to contain the whole conversation a customer has with a support representative. Ticketing is not limited to customer support tickets. Some industries use ticketing for customer service as well.

The ideal support ticket

Support tickets can store a variety of information on your ticketing system. However, there are a few bits that are identical for all support tickets, regardless of the system and industry.

For instance, a support ticket has to contain

Customer’s basic information; Tells you who the ticket is from with their whole customer profile

The message submitted by the customer; The query or complaint

Discrete Internal Notes; Notes that can be shared internally 

Previous history with a customer; Customer previous tickets and purchase history

Ticket status; The response and resolve status of the ticket (responded, resolved, unresolved, etc.)

That being said, an ideal support ticket needs to have more than just the basics. Check out the screenshot below from Fluent Support,

What is a ticketing system?

A ticketing system creates tickets automatically when customers submit a question or a complaint. Each ticketing system has its own management system that prioritizes varying functionalities. 

Some prioritize ticket management, while others prioritize collaboration and automation. What you should be looking for is a system that makes your goals easier to achieve.

Features of a good ticketing system

A good ticketing system is one that makes ticket management easy regardless of the volume of tickets you receive. That’s the only way to make a system scalable for fast-growing businesses. A good ticketing system should allow you to,

Filter and sort tickets; You should be able to sort tickets on more than just a few criteria. For instance, Fluent Support allows you to sort by products, separate inboxes, ticket status, and even the last response time.

Automate certain tasks; You should be able to automate some management tasks, such as delegating tickets to agents, segmenting based on queries, and sending saved responses.

Collaborate; Your system should allow multiple agents to view and manage a ticket to enable smooth transfers between agents and collaborate with agents with prior experience.

Log activities and detect collisions; You should know when multiple agents are attending the same ticket without good reason through collision detection and live activity logs.

Connect multiple channels; Your system should be able to create tickets outside of the basic submission process, such as by email piping. On the other hand, customer support agents should be able to view and respond to tickets from popular communication platforms (Telegram, Slack, etc.) as well.

Ticket handling best practices

For starters, it’s crucial to respond to tickets quickly. Customers want to feel heard, and responding promptly can make all the difference. Once you’re on the case, take the time to fully understand the issue before responding. This helps make sure your response addresses the customer’s needs accurately.

Another key aspect is to empathize with customers. By acknowledging their concerns and apologizing for any inconvenience caused, you can build trust and create a positive customer experience. Remember to use clear and concise language, too. Avoid technical terms and jargon that might confuse customers, and ensure your communication is easy to understand. In this case, you may use a paraphraser.

Throughout the ticket resolution process, it’s essential to keep customers informed. Provide regular updates on progress and let your customers know when the issue has been resolved.

Finally, follow up with the customer after the issue is resolved. This shows that you value their feedback and are committed to providing excellent customer service.

Wrapping up

Customer support ticket and ticketing systems are the backbone of today’s support and service practices. Companies are flooded with millions of tickets every year. Without well-managed systems, the sheer scale of customer queries would overwhelm even the most seasoned support teams. We hope this article helped you get familiar with support tickets and why they’re important.

Until next time, happy serving!

The post What even is a Customer Support Ticket? appeared first on Fluent Support.